It is a slippery slope to question someone’s parenting skills, but considering the type of tragedy and death he has seen, maybe Michael Sam’s father should just be happy that his son is alive and well.

“I endured so much in my past: seeing my older brother killed from a gunshot wound, not knowing that my oldest sister died when she was a baby and I never got the chance to meet her,” he said. “My second-oldest brother went missing in 1998, and me and my little sister were the last ones to see him … my other two brothers have been in and out of jail since eighth grade, currently both in jail.

Sam is the only sibling to ever make it to college. Sam Sr admits he has an old school way of thinking, maybe it is time for him to enter the new school and support his son who has endured a lot and has come through it ok.

Instead of drinking his pain away that his son is gay, maybe he should be celebrating his life and the fact against all odds he has succeeded in not falling into the trappings of some of his other siblings.